Josef Koudelka – författare

About Exiles, Cornell Capa once wrote, Koudelka's unsentimental, stark, brooding, intensely human imagery reflect his own spirit, the very essence of an exile who is at home wherever his wandering body finds haven in the night. In this newly revised and expanded edition of the 1988 classic, which includes ten new images, Koudelka's work once more forms a powerful document of the spiritual and physical state of exile. The sense of private mystery that fills these photographs mostly taken during Koudelkas many years of wandering through Europe since leaving his native Czechoslovakia in 1968 speaks of passion and reserve, of his rage to see. Solitary, moving, deeply felt, and strangely disturbing, the images in Exiles suggest alienation, disconnection, and love. Exiles, edited and sequenced by Koudelka and Robert Delpire, evokes some of the most com - pelling and troubling themes of the twentieth century, while resonating with equal force in this current moment of profound migrations and transience. This edition also includes new text by Robert Delpire and Josef Kudelka.

Josef Koudelka’s landmark photographs of the Prague Spring and the resulting Soviet invasion. Josef Koudelka never planned to become a conflict reporter. That all changed on the night of 21 August, when Soviet tanks entered Prague, ending the short-lived political liberalization in Czechoslovakia. 'I wasn’t a reporter,' Koudelka recalls. 'I had never photographed anything that you would call ""news"". Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I was confronted with that kind of situation. I responded to it. I knew it was important to photograph, so I photographed.' For fear of repercussions, Koudelka originally published the images under the pseudonym 'PP' (Prague photographer). The intensity and significance of the images earned the still-anonymous photographer the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award. Sixteen years would pass before Koudelka could safely acknowledge authorship. Now reissued in a hardback format, this bold new edition will bring these vital photographs back to the public eye, standing as a stark reminder of the importance of bearing witness to violence and brutality.

Fifty years after first publication, one of the most important photobooks of the 20th century returns, offering an intimate glimpse into the daily lives of the Roma community in the 1960s and 1970s. Josef Koudelka’s Gypsies remains one of his best-known series, offering a unique survey of the lives of the Roma community across then-Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, France and Spain between 1962 and 1971. Originally published in 1975, five years after Koudelka left Prague following the Soviet Union’s invasion, Gypsies is a classic of documentary photography. Now returning in its original, hardback format, this timely new edition is as much a pioneering photoessay as it is a lesson in book making. Carrying only his equipment, a rucksack and sleeping bag, Koudelka journeyed between different village and encampments. His nomadic existence, defined by a sense of displacement, allowed him to gain the trust of the Roma communities he encountered. The resulting series eschews the often-derogatory depictions of the community to instead provide unparalleled insight into their world, shining a light on their traditions, struggles and routines. The Roma in these images were photographed mostly in a state that no longer exists, ruled by a regime that dissolved in 1989. With such few historical depictions, Gypsies is not only a testament to the beauty of photography, but a vital historical document of a community often relegated to the shadows. Arriving at a moment of contemporary unrest and social marginalization, Gypsies is a poignant reminder of the often bleak reality of the disenfranchised, and the power of photography to bear witness.

A rare glimpse into the mind and artistic process of one of the world’s greatest photographers.Distilled from sixty‑nine journals kept over the course of fifty‑plus years, Josef Koudelka: Diaries offers a look inside the mind and artistic process of the iconoclastic Czech photographer renowned for a life in exile and legendary projects on the Roma, the 1968 Soviet-led invasion in Prague, and the devastating impact humans have on the landscape. Facsimile pages from the diaries, along with images by the photographer, including self‑portraits, lend the volume an immediacy and authenticity. As curator Tomáš Pospěch writes, “Koudelka’s diaries are a ‘cookbook’ of classic photography. He associated with the most renowned photographers. His notes sum up his rich experience, including with the now‑vanishing technology of analog black‑and‑white photography. His remarks, quips, and stories reappear, just as he repeatedly made resolutions, affirmed the rules he had adopted, and recalled earlier events and dreams.” Diaries is a perfect companion to Josef Koudelka: Next (2023), the visual biography by Melissa Harris.